Institute To Partner CBN On Livestock Production

The National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI) is to partner with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to boost livestock production in Nigeria, an official has disclosed.
The Director, NAPRI, Prof. Clarence Ayodele-Lakpini made the disclosure while receiving a delegation from CBN at the institute recently.
He described the visit as a follow-up to the institute’s courtesy call on the CBN governor, Chief Godwin Emefiele, in July 2017 with the aim of facilitating livestock development plan.
“Actually we are financially handicapped, so this meeting with CBN is expected to provide avenue whereby we can get leverage in terms of financing apart from linking us up with other possible sources.
“During our visit to the apex bank in July, we analysed the farmers/herdsmen clashes, which have been plaguing the nation and have assumed nationwide dimension.
“With this crisis, NAPRI finds an opportunity to deploy interventions that can ameliorate, if not completely mitigate, the apparent cause of clash between farmers and pastoralists,” he said.
Ayodele-Lakpini said the institute offers training of pastoralists by skills acquisition of modern animal husbandry techniques, among other measures.
He said another measure was to encourage and train Nigerian youths in livestock production and processing value chain as small and medium enterprises.
“The training programmes require infrastructural facilities like hostels, training halls and facilities for trainees and a guest house for resource persons and supervisors.”
According to him, the institute also requested for support in developing a NAPRI Integrated Commercial Livestock Model Farm.
This, he said, could be out-scaled for cluster livestock farmers in states that provide the land and encourage partnership with private livestock developers.
The director said expertise and resources of the livestock developers were used to establish provide feeds, pastures, and other inputs such as drugs within the vicinity of the cluster.
Responding, the representative of CBN, Malam Hassan Tom, expressed optimism that with necessary support, the institute would take animal production in Nigeria to a greater level.
He advised the management of the institute to write a bank proposal to CBN to enable it attract support from the apex bank.